Makeup Monday: Brows

Have been sitting in sales meetings all day at the airport hotel and am now blogging in my ice cold room. I turned up the heat before I left my room this morning and I came back to frigid temperatures, definitely not the best way to wrap up a long a** day. I always forget how emotionally exhausting sales meetings are, checking your attitude at the door and always having to be 'on', ready to answer questions from trials and reprints that all seem to blend together as the day goes on. Tomorrow will be much of the same.

Today's MM is going to be short, I'm low on patience and high on taking a nap, my feet are ice cold and my hair is gross from nervous twittering with it all day.

Contrary to the hair on my head, my eyebrows are still in fine shape and will be until I wash my makeup off tonight. Properly groomed eyebrows are a great asset to any makeup style and greatly influence the level of "put togetherness" in your look. Great brows can really define your face and accentuate your features without being the centre of attention.

Brows are definitely one of my weaker areas of knowledge for one reason: I don't touch mine. EVER. I faithfully visit my favourite eyebrow lady at a salon once every 4-5 weeks and have them threaded, shaped, and trimmed if necessary. I love love love my eyebrow lady and if you want her name don't hesitate to send me an email or a fb message, especially since most of you access my blogs via facebook [would it hurt you to follow me?]. I am very firm on my previous statement, even in between visits I never touch my brows and it gets difficult near the end of the 4 weeks, but I've been down the road of self-plucking and it's not pretty, so I haven't taken a tweezer to my brows for a good eight (8) years.

I understand that not everyone has the funds or opportunities to have their eyebrows done on a regular basis, so I've done some research for you all on tips and tricks to perfectly shaped brows for any facial structure and some tips on how to accentuate your brows with makeup [a must for everyone].

First and most importantly, you can only work with what you have. Eyebrows, unlike hair, are not extension friendly nor are they malleable to shape however you'd like, you have to understand your face shape and natural brow patten before attempting to clean up the area. Looking at pictures is also not a great idea when grooming your brows, as almost 100% of the "perfect brows" you see on celebrities have been accentuated and filled in with makeup and are shaped to their features. The steps below demonstrate how to find your brow shape depending on your features.

A. Using a pencil/make up brush, hockey stick: hold it vertically against the bridge of your nose so it meets touches the inner corner of your eye, where the stick meets the brow is where your eyebrow should begin.
B. Tilt the stick diagonally lining up with the outer edge of your iris, that is where the highest point of your brow arch should be
C. Line the stick diagonally with the outer corner of your eye, where it meets your brow is where your brow should end.

What you want to do is mark these points using an eyeliner pencil to define the beginning, arch, and end of your brows. Brush your brows using upward and outward motions to define the natural shape - this will give you a better indication of how thick your brows are to prevent overplucking. Keep your brows as thick as possible, you never want to overpluck.

Slowly begin plucking only the hairs that fall distinctively outside your brow shape, including the stray hair above your brows. There is always a disagreement on above-the-brow plucking and I am all for it. When my brows are threaded the tops of them are also cleaned up, and if done carefully it can really enhance your brow shape. Once you have plucked all of the very evident stray hairs, rebrush your eyebrows and step back away from the mirror. Pulling back away from the mirror gives a more accurate vision of what the shape looks like; standing too close can lead to overplucking. Happy with the shape? DROP THE TWEEZERS. Need a little more? Proceed carefully.

ONLY pluck the hairs that fall outside the shape of your brows, even if you have some areas that are sparse. Sparse areas can be filled in with pencil to create a more uniform depth while still keeping the shape you've determined above.

Once you are satisfied with your freshly groomed brows, it's nice to lightly fill them in with pencil when you do your makeup. Brow pencils come in all brands and colours, but a light blonde one works for even the darkest brows. You can also use light brown eyeliner. Taking the pencil, make short, small strokes following the natural hairline, filling in areas that are thinner than others to create uniformity. Once you are done, set your eyebrows by running a clear mascara or brow gel overthem. To add even more dimension, take a shimmery eyeshadow and blend it under the arch of your brow and blend down to the outer corner of your eye. Voila - beautiful brows!

Brows are tricky, and are relatively inexpensive (<$20) to have professionally shaped. If you do decide to go the professional route [good girl], go for brow threading rather than waxing. Yes, it hurts more, but it is undoubtedly more precise and lasts for longer. WIN.

Happy plucking,

xxLM